


Tales from the Breach

by shyfoxes



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Pacific Rim Fusion, Anxiety Attacks, Changing Tenses, Coran - Freeform, Depression, Developing Relationship, Drift Compatibility, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Keith and Shiro are Adoptive Siblings, Minor Klance, Pacific Rim - Freeform, Partners to Lovers, Pidge - Freeform, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Sendak - Freeform, The Drift (Pacific Rim), Voltron Lions are Jaegers, because I'm just bad at them ok, hunk - Freeform, keith - Freeform, lance - Freeform, scene jumps
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-18
Updated: 2017-05-19
Packaged: 2018-11-02 02:07:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10934754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shyfoxes/pseuds/shyfoxes
Summary: Two pilots engaged in neural bridge, war and, eventually, with each other.or, nonlinear snippets of Allura & Shiro in a Pacific Rim AU





	1. What Is Left Behind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shiro wakes up months later after closing the Breach and reflects.

Shiro awoke slowly.

His neck was turned awkwardly, throat dry and mouth full of hair. His human arm was going numb as his fingers tingled for circulation. Instead, Shiro shifted his arms gently to lay across the hip it was trapped under. His fingers touched the bare brown part of Allura's side, warm despite her shirt having rucked up sometime during the night.

His mind felt disconnected from the rest of him. It floated for a brief moment, almost like Obsidian Leonis' Conn-Pod, suspended and rushing towards the Jaeger's bulky body. Shiro breathed and let Allura's warmth flood his hand. He turned to try and look at her; with each blink he felt like he was tethering himself back one rope to shore at a time.

Shiro couldn't see Allura past the mass of white  hair his cheek was cushioned against. She shifted underneath his chin. Her slim fingers dug into the fabric of his tank top over his heartbeat. Shiro placed his prosthetic hand over her own. He squeezed it gently.

He let himself relax again, grounded by Allura's presence.

When all was said and done, when Shiro found himself once again brought back from the edge, he couldn't help but let himself be selfish one more time. The last time Shiro was selfish it cost him his co-pilot's life. This time...

But he had wondered if it was worth it to bring his arms around Allura so slowly, her tears soaking into his neck as she begged him to come back.

As always, it was less of a request and more of an order. Shiro couldn't help the soft huff of amusement at that, then. He had always respected her word after all, linked so intimately through their Jaeger, sharing so much.

As tired as he had been and wanting to close his eyes - finally, finally - he couldn't deny her request.

_The first thing he saw then when his lungs had finally expanded and his heart had jolted in his chest, was the drenched white of Allura's hair, the taste of salt on his lip. She had dug her face into his neck, grip strong._

Shiro had been content to have only had that lingering touch he'd given Allura's cheek then, the last he would ever feel before he'd drop with Obsidian Leonis one last time.

_"Allura, I can't breathe," Shiro had wheezed._

_Allura pulled back, tears clinging to her lashes. She searched his face, a hesitant smile rising before she choked out a wet laugh. There was a fine cut along her cheek and on her lip, a bruise was on her temple from how hard the category 5 had struck Obsidian Leonis. Allura had a fresher batch of tears flooding out as her hands came up to cup the sides of Shiro's face._

_"You scared me," She accused, voice wavering. She pulled at his cheeks harshly. "Don't ever do that again."_

_Shiro inhaled sharply, wincing. She pulled again, forcing Shiro to bring his hands up and rest them over her's. He interlaced their fingers together, fitted like the wires that had connected their drivesuits nerves and all to Black – as he'd fondly called their Jaeger – and to each other. They breathed in sync and their hands came to rest in between each other._

_Shiro bent forward, head tilted just so. Allura met him halfway, their foreheads coming to rest against each other gently. He shifted up ever so briefly to brush his nose against hers and see the crinkle of relief and affection in her eyes. Her hair was wet and cold against his, so bright against the pretty dark brown of her skin._

_"I'm not leaving without you," She told him._

_He had to laugh; she had said the same thing before she'd lost oxygen down in the Breach when she'd realized his intentions. He'd said the same to her when Coran had been stubborn about their continued status as co-pilots after their first disastrous drift weeks ago, the both of them backed into a corner and frustrated._

_"You won't have to," Shiro replied._

"Go back to sleep," Allura groaned. "I can hear you thinking from here."

Shiro scoffed. "Of course you can. You've been in my head."

"Exactly, so I know you shouldn't be thinking so hard with so much space to rattle around with," Allura teased, accent sharp with exhaustion.  Her accent was always thicker when she was tired.

Shiro pinched her, laughing when she yelped. She brought her legs up to trap him, slapping at his hands blindly as he dug into the places he knew made her squirm, and shimmying up to be face to face. Allura's hand cupped the side of his neck.

"Rest now. We have a lot to rebuild in days to come," Allura said. "And there's also the matter of this Voltron Project my father left for me to settle."

She pressed their foreheads together. He leaned in on instinct, comforted. She scratched at the soft hairs of his undercut. Her fingers moved slowly, finger tips pressing in just to feel.

Allura looked momentarily far away, like he had been earlier. Her eyes went glassy like behind them she was watching him through a screen. Shiro pressed against her a little harder. Allura patted the back of his head gratefully, inhaling sharply and exhaling slowly. Her blue eyes focused on him, soft.

She had never been afraid to look at him straight. Not when they'd sparred in the Kowloon, not from across Black's conn-pod, and not when she'd appeared on that chilly day at the Wall of Life with fire in her eyes to bring him back to the Shatterdome, back to Black, back to Keith and Pidge and Lance and Hunk and Coran, and all the other Rangers and mechanics.

"Rest now," She repeated.

"Yeah, you too," He said.

Shiro laid his head back down, Allura fitted back under his chin. His mind was still buzzing, echoes of Black, of Allura's and his memories pooled together and knocking incessantly. He knew it was the same for her. But her presence was enough.

They had been tethered together, after all, linked and connected. They would draw each other in like a binary star with an unending orbit.

It was enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to make a pacific rim au, but it seems I won't be able to kick myself into gear enough to actually do it. But I wrote these little pieces and I'm too fond of them to let them go. So here are some ficlets all in one
> 
> More to come, probably, sporadically.
> 
> Basic rundown:
> 
> Marshall --> Coran  
> Pilots of Obsidian Leonis (Black Lion) ---> Shiro & Allura, prev Shiro & Matt  
> Pilots of Ronin Blue (not pictured or mentioned) (Red & Blue Lions) ---> Lance & Keith  
> Head of the Science Dept ---> Pidge & Samuel Holt  
> Head of the Engineering/J-Tech & Loccent (Coran's unfortunate right-hand) ---> Hunk
> 
> Yellow & Green Lions are still being brainstormed over lolol
> 
> I had already decided Allura wasn't going to be the Marshall, not because I don't think she's capable, but because putting all her effort into fighting on the front lines directly would make it hard. So she's more of the "Mako Mori" in this case. Alfor dies saving a coastal city, as the previous Marshall when there were no readily available pilots. Allura swears revenge. Coran raises Allura.


	2. Horizons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Allura, Shiro, the aftermath and the future.

This time, when Shiro watches the Wall of Life crumble before him, it isn't with a sense of dread. It is with a sense of relief. Finally, he and everyone else caught in this horrible war can look towards the horizon without fear. Finally, he can walk along the beach as he and Keith had as children, sand-covered and happy, and pointing out towards the sky that one day they will travel so far and see so much.

Finally, their Jaegers can be put to rest.

Shiro exhales as a sea breeze washes over him, calming his fraying nerves. He is alone here, wrapped in a jacket and watching the waves flooding over his soaked shoes. He should be sick of treading water by now. But Shiro had grown up on a coastal city, chasing sunsets with his adopted brother in toe, and olden tales filled within him.

The smell of salt won't ease the nightmares, but for a moment he is settled, reminded why he is grateful Allura had pulled him out from the pit, challenging him to pilot Obsidian Leonis one more time.

_“Is this where you want to meet the end of the world, Mr. Shirogane? What have you been fighting for this whole time? There is still more to fight for!”_

Obsidian Leonis will not be a part of the “Jaeger Graveyard” like the others.

Already, the remaining Jaegers and those retrieved after Sendak’s attack are being collected, refashioned to stand tall and proud and bear the names of all those who fought to keep that horizon before them. (Shiro now has a picture on his phone of Keith and Lance kissing under Ronin Blue’s towering form, the mach 4 overflowing with flowers).

Obsidian Leonis, Shiro, and Allura had made the ultimate sacrifice down there in the ocean. All that remains of the Jaeger is little more than a broken shard of her sword, which lies in Shiro’s pocket, warm and obvious and melted down into the form of a ring. He even knows the exact size of the finger it's meant to be on, how it will look wrapped around the dark ring finger it's meant for.

When Shiro makes it back to the shared bunk he and Allura now shared back at the Shatterdome, he slips his hand into his pocket already mulling over his plan.

Maybe Shiro could lead Allura back to bed, curl around her until they were tangled together, unable to tell where one began and the other ended. Almost as if they were in Black again, linked body and mind. He would rest their foreheads together, take her by the hand and press the ring into her palm, ask her, _“The future is finally full of hope again. Will you allow me to be a part of it?”_

Then maybe Allura will give him that wry grin he loves so much, punch him harder than she means to in the arm. Then she'll tell him that he's always been a part of her future and (hopefully) say yes.

What he finds instead is Allura curled up in on herself at the foot of the bed. Her arms are folded over her head, fingers digging into the thick of her white hair, and twisting.

The only sound in their room is the sharp staccato of Allura’s breathing, loud and heavy like unrelenting waves. When Shiro bends down before her, Allura raises her head.

Her eyes are glassed over, wet and at least a whole galaxy away. Shiro’s hands hover over her, unsure and scared. He can hear his own heartbeat warring against Allura’s breathing inside his skull. Shiro slips a hand into his pocket, fingers the ring and wrestles his mind back into his body.

“Allura,” Shiro starts, soft. “Look at me, no don't look down! Look at me. Yeah, good.”

Shiro touches the tips of her fingers, featherlight. He doesn’t know what set her off and doesn't want to make it worse. He decides to be tentative, let her ease back down. But she's fighting him, Shiro can tell. Allura shakes her head, words jumbling in her mouth and unable to form as she tries to speak. Vaguely she seems to realize, eyes widening as a loud sob forces itself out of her.

“Don't be scared,” Shiro says. “It's ok. It's ok, Allura. It will pass. But I need you to breathe.”

Allura shakes her head again, white hair sticking to her face, her lips. Her pajamas are soaked through with sweat. Shiro rubs a thumb over her wrist.

“It's fine, I'll help you remember. Just follow my lead, ok? It's just like drifting. We just have to get calibrated,” Shiro continues softly.

Allura bleary nods. She swallows before following Shiro’s example and taking a huge gulp of breath. Shiro brushes the hair from her face. He puts her fingers over the seam of his mouth. When he exhales, Shiro makes sure he does so loudly, allowing her to feel his breath brush over her fingers, before inhaling again. Shiro cradles one of her cheeks and prompting her to inhaling again.

It takes a good ten minutes before Shiro gets Allura to synch their breathing together. She inhales too quickly, exhales after too long, trying to grasp at air like she's fighting a current, battered and struggling. As she begins to calm, her hand makes its way over Shiro’s. First his fingers, then across the back of his hand. She's at his wrist by the time her eyes seem to come back into focus.

“I'm here,” Shiro tells her. “I'm not going anywhere. We made it, Allura. You and me. We made it out, Black protected us. We're alive.”

Tears pool over Allura’s eyes then. She digs her fingers into the front of his shirt. Shiro feels her nails scratch over his heart.

“That's just it!” Allura cries. “We're alive. We're _here_.”

“Allura -”

“What do I do now, Takashi? I don't know how to do anything else! I made it this far because I wanted to avenge my father,” Allura continues.

She gulps down air before speaking again.

“There's a future now. I have to make a life now, be - be something else other than Marshall Singh’s daughter. Be m-more than the other half of Obsidian Leonis. What is even out there for _me_?” Allura cried.

Shiro pressed their foreheads together, telling her to focus on him, don't chase the Rabit, focus only on him.

“There's everything out there for you,” Shiro finally said. “A coffee shop, an animal shelter, a book store, a champion middleweight boxer, an astronaut, anything.”

He gathers both of her hands up in his and pressed them between both of their bodies. Shiro’s own heart hammers where her fists press against his chest. He can feel hers hammering against his knuckles.

“Without you, Keith, Hunk, Lance, Pidge, Coran, The Shatterdome , _countless_ lives wouldn't have a future. _You and I_ did that,” Shiro tells her, voice rough with conviction.

“Takashi,” Allura starts again, voice wavering. “I'm - I'm really scared.”

It floors Shiro for a moment. Allura has always been a proud person, unafraid of her goals and the hardships it would take to get there. If Shiro hadn't already had experience dealing with impulsive, hot-headed individuals, he might have been out sorts when he and Allura had become a team. They had clashed quite a bit in the early months; Allura had been often times blinded by vengeance, her heart pinned to her sleeve like a beacon. Shiro had been tired, guilt-ridden and losing hope.

They had made it work.

Apologizing had always been hard for Allura. Admitting defeat even harder.

“I know,” Shiro replies. “I am, too.”

“But you won't be going at it alone. I won't let you. I'm your copilot, remember?”

“You won't ever be the same, and neither will I. We both know that. We’ll figure the future out together,” Shiro tells her.

Allura looks up at him, then, blue eyes wide and limitless, framed around her wet, black lashes, one laying haphazard across the dark brown of her skin. Shiro smoothes her hair down, kissing under each of her eyes. Allura burrows against him.

“Thank you,” Allura says. “If - If it's you, I know I can meet another day. I hope I can be the same for you, too, in time.”

“You already are,” Shiro murmurs.

She won't stop being scared for some time, Shiro knows this. But he's glad they're taking the fall together.

After all, falling is so easy. He's done it already deep in the ocean, and so many times just looking at Allura.

Shiro can still feel the ring against his thigh in his pocket. It can wait, he decides. There's time now. There's now a tomorrow where there may never have been before.

Shiro laces their fingers together, pressing against Allura until their foreheads touch and their noses push together. She laughs a little breathlessly.

All that's left to do now is look towards the horizon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Obsidian Leonis = Black Lion  
> Ronin Blue = Red&Blue Lions, piloted by Lance & Keith
> 
>  
> 
> Headcanon: Shiro is from Nakatane, in Tanegashima in Kagoshima Prefecture. He lived near not that far from Tanegashima Space Center. It's a reference to 5 CM/Sec


	3. Restart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marshall Singh's daughter brings Shiro back, but also finds him a partner.

Marshall Singh's daughter was fierce. It was not in her stance, small, unblemished and petite in comparison to the dirty chaos of the Wall of Life construction zone. It was not in the way she had strode up to him, calling Shiro by name (and not a mere number, in the list of all the numbers, lost day by day as the Wall of Life crumbled, was patched and crumbled again). It was not in the way she had parted the crowds like water, grease and soot covered bodies repelling away from her. It was not even in the way she had come to stand before him, looming over his seated form and seeming to block out the harsh fluorescent lights overhead, signaling that the workers would be toiling through the night.  

 It was in her eyes, hard and blue but bright, and the sharp downturn of her mouth as she stared him down and made her offer. Less of an offer, more of an order.  

"Will you come back to the Shatterdome, Mr. Shirogane?" Allura Singh had said. "The world is ending and you are needed. Obsidian Leonis needs one more pilot."  

Shiro had wanted to ask why, then, was she standing before him if Obsidian still needed another pilot?  He had gotten her ripped in half in the first place. And what had that gotten him now? A dead copilot, a missing arm, and enough nightmares to last three lifetimes. Shiro opened his mouth before closing it again. He dug his fist into the dirty fabric of his trousers.  

Allura narrowed her eyes as she addressed him again.  

"Is this really where you want to meet the end of the world, Mr. Shirogane? " Allura asked.   

No, Shiro decided. It wasn't.  

His face must have said as much. Allura held out her hand to him. It was slim and brown, callused on the palm. Her gaze didn't waver, waiting.   

"Come then, Mr. Shirogane. We have a world to save."  

Shiro took her hand.  

-  

Seeing Black, as Shiro had fondly come to call the Jaeger, was surreal. When he'd landed in Alaska, ears ringing and mind still melded to Matt's, memory on constant repeat, he didn't think he'd ever see her again. Much less whole.   

But now, she stood proud. She was polished and impressive like a clear night sky. Black was always a bulkier build than the other Jaegers when Shiro had been at the Anchorage dome; built like a fighter, like a tank, but so smooth and graceful it was like an extension of Shiro himself. Shiro shifted to look behind her, spotting her signature red wing-thrusters, poised and ready. At the center sat a thrumming reactor core, a testament to her age.   

"Looks pretty good, right?" A voice said. "Completely restored her from the inside out. She's also the only still running that old core. But I guess that makes her one of a kind."  

The smug tone didn't escape Shiro, especially when his eyes fell on the insignia etched into Black's chest; a big stylized V like his adopted brother had designed when he'd first told he was enrolling in the Pan Pacific Defense Corps when he turned eighteen. Shiro ducked his head, rubbing just under his eye with the fabric of his jacket on his shoulder. A hand touched his shoulder comfortingly. He turned back towards them, happy to see his little brother.  

"Hey," Keith said. "It's good to have you back."  

Shiro cuffed him on the back of the head, forcing him to skitter a bit forward and glare at him over his shoulder with a hissy pout. When Shiro laughed, wet, messy but genuine, Keith couldn't help but smile.  

Shiro ruffled Keith's hair, "It's good to be back."  

He was startled by how right it felt to say that, even after everything.  

-  

A lot had changed in the years Shiro was away.  

Keith had grown in his absence, traces of baby-fat gone, though he had not surpassed Shiro in height like he had threatened he would do. He had filled the Shiro's space as the Hong Kong shatterdome's ace pilot and rookie at 31 drops and kills. Shiro was obnoxious with his pride. But Keith was partner-less, too impulsive and independent and unmatched when tested with others.  

Instead he'd devoted time to helping the other mechanics, thrown himself into restoring Obsidian Leonis to its former glory.   

Matt's younger sister, going by the name Pidge, had become head of the science and technology department at a startling speed following her brother's death. She and another boy, Hunk, who was Marshall Coran's right hand in LOCCENT, were in charge of not only Black's redesigns but Shiro's arm, too.   

Pidge'd looked at him on the operating table, grim and intimidating for someone so young and small. Then tears had gathered at the corners of her eyes and she told him she was happy he was okay, fitted under Shiro's arm as he hugged her back. Hunk smiled at them sheepishly next to Keith on the other side of the table. The surgery went well enough after that.  

Shiro's only regret was being too achy to be able to put his brother and Pidge into a headlock when they'd teased him about what he'd said under anesthesia.   

But it didn't escape him that Black wasn't the only one getting a facelift. Keith is partner-less and Black needed another pilot. The connections are hard from there.  

At the Marshall's request, Keith took Shiro too the Kowloon for the compatibility matches. They were to meet the Marshall and Allura there, no doubt to observe that Shiro and Keith were, in fact, compatible.  

"So I guess you're gonna be my co-pilot, huh? You need a co-pilot and someone has to pilot Black?" Shiro said.  

Keith looked at him, puzzled for a moment. "Originally I thought that, too. But, actually -"  

Keith stepped aside so Shiro could enter. Shiro looked from Marshall Coran, weathered but spritely, orange mustache trimmed to perfect, to Allura Singh waiting at the center with two bo-stafsf in hand.  

Keith clapped Shiro on the shoulder and whispered, "Good luck," before ducking out to stand near Coran.  

Allura threw one staff to Shiro, blue eyes simmering.  

Shiro looked to Coran. The older man, usually known for being light-hearted and comical was grim-faced. He eyed the staff in Allura's hand with something Shiro could only consider regret. Shiro knew the feeling well enough. The impatient tapping of Allura's foot on the mat was what Shiro's attention back to her. 

She huffed through her nose, impatient, assuming position. Shiro mirrored her, moving his shoulders back and forth. He was more tense than he had realized. When Shiro's eyes fell on Allura, it felt as if he was looking at her for the first time again, as if he was back at the Wall of Life watching her stand before him, riling him up, pushing him to raise himself up. 

Allura charged towards him. 

There was a danger in Allura. She was a loud thrumming storm muffled but untamed. Shiro could feel it with every strike their staffs took as they knocked against each other; wood on wood echoing in the near empty Kowloon.   

She was sure in her movements, but over-eager perhaps, made sloppy at times by her enthusiasm. For the slack in some of her moves, Allura could switch to exploit Shiro's own. Shiro could feel a sweat breaking out on his skin and his body lighting up like Black's core.  

When his back hit the mat, Shiro could only blink. He looked over at Allura's impish grin, curled at the corners as her eyes crinkled in amusement. It made her unfairly pretty. 

"One-Zero," She said, stepping back to allow Shiro to rise.  

Shiro huffed, advancing on her. He struck her staff, one, twice, and jabbed at a drop in her defense.   

He grinned and said, "One-One."  

Allura scoffed softly, working her shoulders back as she assumed position. They locked eyes, not moving and nothing but Shiro's own breathing meeting his ears. He saw the barest shift of muscle as Allura lunged forward; Shiro reacted on instinct, feeling it already where her attack would be.  

 _M_ _iddle jab, near the jugular_   

He spun, staff coming vertical to ward off Allura's attack. The echo made them freeze, breathing hard as Shiro slowly brought his staff down. Allura followed suit.  

Shiro could hear Keith's sharp intake of breath somewhere behind him. It didn't matter when he looked at Allura, really looked at her. Everything fell away as everything seemed to flood inside of him slowly. It was like being light-headed for a second. A brief flicker of numbness before Shiro was back in focus. Allura's lips parted as if she wanted to say something. She didn't. 

Behind them Coran frowned deeper.  

"It's her," Shiro said between breaths. "She's my co-pilot, I'm sure of it."  

The silence that met them was not what Shiro had expected. Then Allura was raising her staff up and over her shoulder. A wry grin passed across her face.  

"I could have told you that," Allura snarked. 

A laugh bubbled up out of Shiro's throat, startling the others. Shiro shook his head between breaths, unsure why he had found it so funny. But he had felt so relieved, like a pressure between his shoulder blades had eased – just a bit. He let his hand hover over Allura's shoulder, watching the subtle tilt of her head giving him permission, before he was cupping the bare skin of her shoulder. It warmed his palm.  

Allura brought her hand up to rest on Shiro's, tentative. 

"Partners?" Allura asked, though it sounded more like an affirmation than a question. 

"Partners," Shiro agreed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keith is Shiro's adopted brother. They both grew up in Nakatane, Tanegashima, Kagoshima Prefecture. Coran is Marshall. 
> 
> This was the beginning I was really attached to that woulda been the beginnings of a chaptered fic. But now it's just snippets. I'm really attached to Allura just striding into the Wall of Life construction zone and inspiring Shiro to return. I'm even more attached to the idea that they become low-key rivals. Not the same as Lance & Keith but similar.
> 
> Allura would be much more brash and impulsive, kind of like Keith, but mostly because she's out for revenge and letting it blind her more often than not. Shiro balances that out in her. In turn, Allura pushes Shiro to match her enthusiasm, keeps him wanting to keep going.

**Author's Note:**

> Some old zine entries that I'm very attached to but also snippets that will probably never evolve into a full fic because I'm lazy. So, snippets!


End file.
